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Aristotle

Important Terms and People

Early Works

Aristotle was born in 384 BC in a small town called Stagira
(modern day Stavró), located on the northern coast of the Aegean
Sea. His father, Nicomachus, was a physician, a member of the guild
of the Asclepiadæ, and his mother was Phæstis from Chalcis. Nicomachus had
served as the court physician under Amyntass II of Macedonia, and
this connection would later help lead to Aristotle's tutorship
of Alexander the Great. Aristotle's parents died early, and he
was raised by a guardian named Proxenus. Nevertheless, it is possible
to find some traces of Nicomachus's early influence on Aristotle's
development. The philosophic tradition in Greece at this time was still
shaky, with no grounding in a scientific method. On the other hand,
there is strong evidence for the employment of such methods in
medical science, where observation preceded prognosis. This discipline
no doubt revealed itself in Aristotle's later tendencies. Moreover,
his interest in medicine and especially biology can be traced back
to his early exposure. Asclepiad families are thought to have trained
their sons in dissection, and Aristotle would likely have received
this training; he may even have helped his father during surgical
procedures.

Little is known about Aristotle's life before he entered
Plato's Academy at the age of eighteen. The choice was probably
not out of some burning desire for philosophical knowledge, but
rather a simple recognition that the best education offered in
Greece lay there. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that Aristotle
was Plato's best pupil, called "the mind of the school" by Plato
himself. Nevertheless, it might seem surprising that two of the
most powerful minds in human history remained together for approximately
twenty years despite the fundamental differences between them.
But while Aristotle could not accept Plato's doctrines without
debate, Platp laid the groundwork for all of Aristotle's future
philosophical (though not his scientific) works. Aristotle was
always careful to emphasize the common principles that bound his
philosophy to Plato's, despite the objections he raised, and he
always spoke of Plato's Academy with fondness.

During this time, Aristotle may also have begun some scientific research,
though no one at the school could have given him much guidance
beyond a certain point. He also may have lectured but most likely
only on rhetoric. From this period several of his writings were
lost, most likely ones pertaining to philosophical theories that were
not particularly original. When Plato died in 347, he was succeeded
by his nephew Speusippus, who stood for components of the Academy
that Aristotle particularly disliked, especially the tendency to
turn philosophy into mathematics. This development, along with
the anti-Macedonian sentiment growing in Athens, probably led to
Aristotle's departure. He left with his Academy colleague Xenocrates
to spend some time with a former fellow-student named Hermeias,
who had risen from the status of a slave to become the ruler of
Atarneus and Assos. There he remained for three years, marrying
Hermeias's niece and adopted daughter Pythias. Pythias bore him
a daughter of the same name and died shortly after. Later Aristotle
would enter into an unofficial but lasting union with Herpyllis,
a native of Stagira, and with her he would have a son named Nicomachus.